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February 15, 2015

Birthday Bourbon Bonanza Finale! OFBB 2014

It's finally here, the long awaited finale of the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon Bonanza. Man there were a lot of these little squat bad-boys to review :). See folks, this is all the hard work that goes into whiskey blogging. Drinking nine years worth of bourbon in a row!

So far the 2013 and the 2006 have been our big favorites. Can the latest release, the 2014 best the best? Let's crack her open!

Tasting Notes

Nose: Big nose on this one and the most minty so far. There's some spirit fire here and also some spice with cinnamon and cayenne pepper. A lot of heat in the nose, some oak, altogether a rye-focused spicy hot nose.

Palate/Finish: Nice and round on the tongue, but finishes off flat and a little weak. More burn but less richness than the 2013.

Review

Well the 2014 was ok, but definitely not our favorite. The winners are, in this order (drumroll please):

5 comments
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Why do you think there is so much variation year to year? It seems that even single barrel bourbons have less variation than these. Are they trying new things to make each batch different on purpose or are they just trying to dial it in? Maybe this year they went too far. Either way it still seems like a "must buy" if you can find it, just for the hope that they can get back the magic of 2013.

It's always fascinating to see how different batches from the same distillery can be so variable. OFBB is definitely a fun purchase every year, festive, and good drinking whiskey at a reasonable cost. I'm not sure about whether they try different approaches every year or not. It would be interesting to find out.

So that's a freshly cracked '13? As I'm sure you can imagine, it will change a bit over time.

I saved the last of mine in a smaller bottle from '13 and just drank the last of it recently. Dude, if you like 'dusty' Old Forester, it was all about that rich, tannic chewy goodness. Like if you aged Cherry Coke soaked devils food cake in an oak barrel. I licked the inside of my glass and then cried myself to sleep....

Haha nice. Actually we had a '13 open for a year and tried it over time. It does open up nicely. I will say that as pretty as those OFBB bottles are, they're TERRIBLE for having a bottle open more than a couple of months. They oxidize really quickly and not in a good way. It's probably good that you moved yours to a smaller bottle!